SATURDAY saw the Penarth RFC Youth play top of the table Mountain Ash Youth at the Athletic ground in the Blues Premier Youth league and lose in a thriller in the final moments of the game 24-12.

In a slightly flattering score line to the visitors, it was the youth's own mistakes which led to their downfall and a controversial refereeing decision that could have changed the outcome of the game.

From the kick off, it was all Penarth as they pushed forward through strong runs by front row forwards Yas Ghandour, Geraint Evans and Tom Griffiths taking the game to the visitors, and for the first 15 minutes the Penarth boys were camped inside the Mountain Ash half applying huge pressure on the visitors try line which they defended with vigour.

The Penarth boys finally thought they had breached the visitors defence when after 15 minutes a smart move on the 5meter line saw the ball thrown to the front of a line out where second row Will Parson popped the ball back to hooker and captain Tom Griffiths who crossed the line only to be called back by the referee stating that Parsons had crossed into the 5 metre area.

The resulting Penalty saw the Mountain Ash boys clear their lines and after 18 minutes, and against the run of play, they broke through the Penarth defensive line when a strong run by their centre saw him take the ball into the Penarth half for the first time and with some smart inter play between their loose forwards, saw them cross the line to take a 5 point lead.

It seemed the Penarth boys couldn't quite believe how they were 5 points down and with a lack of concentration only two minutes later from the restart, another strong run from the Mountain Ash centre saw him cut back inside the Penarth defence and put his full back into space to score under the post and take the visitors into a 0 -12 lead.

Harsh words behind the posts from Penarth RFC Youth Captain Tom Griffiths spurred his team into action as they realised that they would need to take the game to the visitors if they wanted to stay with them and following some great work from the back row of Thaine Baker, Ryan Allen and Ellis Smith it saw the Penarth boys return to the Mountain Ash half and re-apply the pressure.

With a great carry from second row Parsons, the ball was worked to scrum half Gruff Shewring who got the ball away from the break down and good hands from the Penarth backs saw the ball reach right wing Mike Halligan who stormed down the right wing brushing two defenders away to score in the corner. With the conversion made by Joe Williams Penarth managed to pull the score back to 7 -12 after 22 minutes.

Half time saw the Penarth coaches encourage the boys to spread the ball wide as the bigger Mountain Ash boys were visibly struggling to keep up with the pace of the game and within 10 minutes of the second half starting, a great break by Penarth man of the match Will Parsons saw the second row hit a gap in the Mountain Ash defence and feed the ball to back row Thaine Baker to score in the corner and take the score to 12 points all, and everything to play for.

With the Penarth eight now starting to dominate the struggling front row of the visitors, an injury to the Mountain Ash tight head prop forced the scrum to go passive and immediately took the advantage away from the home team. From the ensuing scrum, a floated pass to the Penarth outside centre Aron Arthur was intercepted by his opposite number, for the Mountain Ash centre to run half the length of the pitch and score under the posts for the visitors to take a 12-17 lead.

The Penarth boys however, immediately came back at the visitors, and with quick ball from the base of the ruck coming from replacement scrum half Aled Rees, the ball was moved to the blind side where quick hands saw Parsons again break through the defence and with a deft kick ahead into the Mountain Ash 22m, centre Aron Arthur went to collect the ball with a clear line in front of him to the try line only to be clearly impeded and taken off the ball by the Mountain Ash full-back.

The referee blew for the penalty and immediately gave a yellow card but controversially did not award a penalty try to the home team.

Incredibly, from the ensuing scrum Penarth tried to force the ball to win the game and a dropped pass on the Mountain Ash 22m line saw the visitors outside-half hoof the ball up the pitch and with the ensuing kick ahead a perfect bounce fell into the hands of the visitors' wing who scored under the posts.

With the conversion, the final whistle was blown and Mountain Ash had somehow not only secured a 12 -24 win, but gained a winning bonus point and Penarth had been squeezed out from even a losing bonus point.

Mountain Ash remain top of the Blues Premier Youth league but both the Penarth Youth players and coaches know from their performances that they are definitely not off the pace of this league and this young team show great promise for the rest of the season and continue to earn their place in the league.